title: Recent trend of pylephlebitis in Taiwan: Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess as an emerging etiology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pylephlebitis (septic thrombophlebitis of the portal venous system) is a rare complication of intra-abdominal infection. We aimed to investigate the recent trend of its etiology, clinical manifestation, and prognosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively studied the etiology, clinical manifestation, and outcome by reviewing the medical records of all imaging-confirmed pylephlebitis cases diagnosed during the period 2002-2011 in a university hospital in Taiwan. To identify the risk factors for pylephlebitis, we randomly selected 160 patients with intra-abdominal infections but without pylephlebitis as the comparison group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 35 cases of pylephlebitis. Most patients were men [29/35 (83 %)]. The median age of the patients was 57 years (range 35-90 years). Unspecified abdominal pain (18/35) and fever (10/35) were the most common clinical manifestations. Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess (7/35) and cholangitis (7/35) were the most common etiologies. Liver abscess was a risk factor for pylephlebitis (13/35 vs. 27/160, P = 0.01). With antibiotic therapy, there was no in-hospital mortality, but pylephlebitis was still associated with an excess hospital stay (22.2 ± 17.6 vs. 9.8 ± 7.1 days, P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study results suggested a different pattern of pylephlebitis from previous Western literature. K. pneumoniae liver abscess (7/35) is an emerging etiology of pylephlebitis in Taiwan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Y-F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C-C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: T-C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: I-L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: W-C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lien
authors.forename: S-J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: H-P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: K-L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007710:Klebsiella Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008100:Liver Abscess / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000382:microbiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013924:Thrombophlebitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*